Teenagers as young as 15 years old in the state of Oregon may now undergo a sex change operation even without the consent of their parents, Fox News reported.
The policy was, in fact, implemented last January to cover health care expenses for transgender people. It was put in effect to reduce the emotional trauma that goes with gender dysphoria, formerly known as gender identity disorder.
Other states in the country also extended the same coverage for transgender people. However, Oregon's policy is drawing controversy because it now legally allows teenagers to undergo sex change without their parents even knowing about it.
"It is trespassing on the hearts, the minds, the bodies of our children," said Lori Porter of the Parents' Rights in Education, as quoted by Fox News. "They're our children. And for a decision, a life-altering decision like that to be done unbeknownst to a parent or guardian, it's mindboggling."
Oregon approved the coverage based on the recommendation of the Health Evidence Review Commission, which is the agency that deliberates what should be covered by Oregon's Medicaid.
However, there was no public debate on the matter. Hence, parents were not aware that the policy's coverage included "cross-sex hormone therapy, puberty-suppressing drugs and gender-reassignment surgery" as well as other treatments commonly associated with gender dysphoria.
Back in June, the New York Times first reported on the controversial Oregon law and stressed that there is no law barring sex change operations for minors anywhere in the United States. However, insurance companies do only cover for such procedures for policyholders above 18 years old; hence, it became the norm. Some insurers even set the age limit at 21 years old.
In Oregon, 15 years old is the age of medical consent, which means that most medical treatments are administered on teenagers above 15 without the permission from their parents.
In his defense of the Oregon law, Danni Askini, Executive Director of the Seattle-based non-profit organization, Gender Justice League, said, "It's not like surgery on demand."
Askini is part of the committee that developed the policy for transgenders. He further explained that transitioning is not a simple process, where kids can simply march to the doctor's office to ask for hormone therapy or surgery. "That's not a realistic portrayal of how extraordinarily difficult it is for young people to transition."
"For a young person, being told to wait five years is a lifetime, and that creates a huge amount of despair and hopelessness. The reality is that denying people access to this care leads to a lot of negative long-term outcomes," Askini added.
